heathy desserts

This section is all about healthy desserts.

Cookie Dough Dip

I refuse to believe one must give up delicious food in order to be healthy… Healthy food can taste incredible when it’s prepared the right way.

This dip is high in protein, gluten-free, and it can even be sugar-free!

Cookie Dough Dip

Inspired by: White Bean Blondies.

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas or white beans (1 can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
• 1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
• tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 tbsp. If you use peanut butter, it’ll have a slight “pb cookie dough” taste. Just don’t bake it.)
• up to 1/4 cup milk of choice, only if needed
• Sweetener (see note below, for amount)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips or these: Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
• 2 to 3 tbsp oats (or flaxmeal) (You can omit for a thinner dip.)

Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a good food processor (not blender), and blend until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate chips.  (Some commenters have had success with a blender, but I did not. Try that at your own risk, and know the results will be better in a high-quality food processor such as a Cuisinart.)

Sweetener Notes: I used 2/3 cup brown sugar when I first made this for the party. Liquid sweeteners (agave, maple, etc.) are fine as well, as is evaporated cane juice. You can easily get away with less sugar– some people will be perfectly fine with just 3 tbsp for the whole recipe! And if you don’t want any sugar, be sure to check out the “no-sugar” version linked above. (You can also use stevia, if you like the taste of stevia-sweetened desserts. Try 2-3 packets of NuNaturals stevia, and add more sweetener if needed. I wouldn’t recommend serving an all-stevia version to party guests, though.)

Dark Chocolate Brownie Batter Dip

First came cookie dough dip

It’s also soy-free, and there’s a sugar-free option as well. (All of my recipes are dairy-free.) There’s one thing this recipe s not free of, however, and that is addictiveness. Seriously. You’ve been warned.

Brownie Batter Dip

Inspired by the famous Cookie Dough Dip.

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained (250g)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• up to 2 tablespoons milk of choice
• 1/4c nut butter of choice (or oil, if you don’t want any nut butter flavor)
• 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• a little over 1/8 tsp salt
• 2/3c dry sweetener (See link below for sugar-free option)
• optional: feel free to add flaxmeal or quick oats

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (not blender, for best results) and process until very, very smooth.

(If you want this to taste like brownie batter from a boxed mix, you can use dutch-processed cocoa or Hersheys special dark. Also: the recipe calls for 2/3 cup sweetener, but if you’re used to not-so-sweet desserts, you can probably get away with less.)

In fact, I sometimes don’t even bother to cook the brownies at all. Instead, I just eat the batter with a spoon. Even when I do cook them, they somehow never yield as many brownies as the recipe says. I wonder why that is…